VD-57
The Vakio Deihas 57 6 Line Automatic Rifle is the first assault rifle to be developed in the Commonwealth and arguably the civilization's existence. It is a gas operated, magazine fed, select fire rifle chambered for the Creyr 6x40.5 Line Cartridge (Or jokingly by humans: 6.08x41mm LC). It was developed from 2162-2168 and entering service in 2170 in response to the commercialization of early self-loading rifles following that of smokeless propellant and magazine feeding. Though placed in the backburner of development due to being thought of as unnecessary, production would increase dramatically in the start of the Second War of Reclamation, inevitably becoming the standard issue rifle of the Levneranians and various other Commonwealth neighbors. History Supply and Demand Throughout the occupation of the Albajarian homeland by Commonwealth forces, resistance movements relied solely on improvised weaponry for resistance. Captured or commercially purchased weapons were relatively uncommon as the occupying forces has a firm grasp on the production and distribution of domestically produced weapons. As a result resistance soldiers often times had to make their own weapons such as clubs, machetes and pipe based weapons. Even if they had a massive numerical advantage, these war veterans and civillian nationalists would be slaughtered on the streets of their own country with repeated volleys from small lines of soldiers and their advanced VD-8 rifles who are only limited in their ability to carry ammo. Throughout time they would rely less and less on direct confrontation, and more on sabotage. Of notable effectiveness was the usage Improvised Explosive Devices. Early on these consisted of black powder bombs, filled with shrapnel made from pieces of metal such as nails, ball bearings or lead shot. In the end, firearms development throughout the commonwealth stagnated. Not in knowledge, but rather in adaptation. Commercial firearms on the easy end of the planet, that would be anywhere that wasn't Albajaria and Inland Felcrin would be the home of weapons development for the individual soldier. These weapons were seldom asked for, and were centered more towards the consumer and hunting market, but it's guaranteed that if a new rifle was to be used for military service, it was without doubt a private company would of inspired it. Prior to the development of the VD-57, the VD-8 and its small caliber VD-22 cousin was by and large the most common military rifle roaming the world, both seeing service by Levneranian, Felcrin and Trevunailic forces who are arguably the largest militaries in the planet up to that point. The implementation of the VD-39 Bolt action rifle however was slow due to a lack of demand in most inland forces, being preferred in high intensity environments. Without the looming threat of war from an equal, due to the inherit stability and power that the commonwealth wields, one would wonder why natives would develop such weapons in the first place. The first automatic weapons to make their way to Verdeckt were not locally produced at all, but rather were the tools of survival that the first human astronauts would rely on. These weapons were wide and varying depending on the origin of the astronauts. Ranging anywhere from run of the mill bolt action rifles and break action shotguns, semi automatic AR-15 and Kalashnikov derived Saigas. To prevent the locals from understanding the inner workings of such weapons, various attempts to hide them during transportation and carrying were used such as hiding them in a trench coat or enlarged holster. Perhaps wrapping portions of the weapons in cloth when in use to hide certain details. But no doubt, their use in public areas in instances of attack from either wild life or the less than savory xenophobe would reveal their capability to the masses. Private arms companies took note, and soon enough sought to enter the market of automatic weapons with minimal human intervention. If one wished for success in such a market, the relatively peaceful (or rather low intensity) state of combat meant that adoption was slow. No matter the design, even approval from those in power, even from those such as Andar Varasche himself would at best warrant a slow phasing of previous designs. The most advanced breechloaders and manually operated repeaters, at the time fetched a high price due to the lacking capabilities of tooling. Even if such weapons were available to the public, it was nearly impossible that they could make their way to the hands of the Albajarians. Yet in the 2140s, the first semi automatic rifles to be developed would make their way into the hands of firearms owners everywhere. Like Earth, the first practical semi automatic rifle in Levneran was a small caliber direct blowback operated rifle used for varmint or just general plinking (It was the Winchester 1903 in Earth). The action was simple, in which the Weight of the bolt and the spring acting upon it was what held the cartridge to the barrel, and would be designed such that pressures would drop to a safe level before most of the cartridge was extracted. Hypothetically, any cartridge can be used in a blowback operated rifle, so long as the bolt and recoil spring are sufficiently heavy. The problem is that at some point, the weapon would become impractically heavy... though that doesn't rule it out entirely. More advanced systems to help remedy the issue such as delayed blowback and recoil operation became the norm and all came under study. Gas operation as experimented with by the Creyr Arms Comany however earned the most consideration. Gas Operation is arguably the most common method of operation for assault rifles and automatic weapons in general. It's preferred due to its light weight and relative insensitivity to variation in ammunition as opposed to recoil and blowback operation. As its name implies, it functions by using gas channeled from the barrel via a port to operate a cyclical mechanism. In most cases a reciprocating mass consisting of the bolt and bolt carrier. The ubiquitous Avtomat Kalashnikova used an operating rod attached directly bolt carrier to cycle the mechanism, whole the Stoner systems consisting of both the AR-10 and AR-15 derivatives use a more novel approach, in which the gas would be channeled into the interior of the bolt carrier itself via a "gas key." The way the VD-57 functions however shows that the system was probably developed by people new to the concept of assault rifles, and perhaps a few unqualified advisers. Instead, the rifle was designed with the use of a rudimentary Gas Impingement system, in which the gasses act directly on the face of the bolt carrier by means of a recess that mates to the gas tube. This system can be found in the French MAS-49 series of semi automatic and the Swedish AG-42 rifles. Regardless of who first discovered the concept of gas operation in the entirety of Verdeckt, it was clear they went for something crude and rudimentary. The engineers including the entirety of the Creyr Arms Corporation did not have any access to human weapons. And much like the rifles mentioned above, they were (at first) intended to be used as semi automatic rifles. Design and Development Tooling that was used in the firearms industry was geared towards the production of breech loading rifles and on the more advanced end magazine fed repeaters. Many weapons were built in large scale workshops ran by trade guilds with laborers consisting largely or journeymen- trained gunsmiths who constructed entire firearms in their own standardized workspace using handtools. However these weapons were still built to a degree of precision previously unseen. However compared to modern day factory methods, namely that of the production line, it was prohibitively costly and dated. So without a doubt weapons of such complexity as a self loading rifle would command a hefty price. The Creyr Arms Company however attracted the attention of human observers both on the planet and intelligence agencies scattered throughout Earth, pioneering what would become the modern production line. Assault rifles present a number of issues in the realms of such economies. The constant need to rely on disposable magazines to feed the weapon that may fire tens of thousands of rounds in its lifetime, is arguably one of the most costly issues in regards to their development. When first proposed by James Paris Lee (famous for the Lee-Enfield) and in an unrelated instance Ferdinand Mannlicher (who has an utterly ridiculous surname), disposable magazines were criticized heavily for their prohibitive cost, leading to the development of en-bloc magazines and later stripper clips. Lee on the other hand stated the magazines are only to be changed in times of emergency, single loading being the standard procedure. The VD-57 in its prototype form was to be loaded by means of clips. Its magazine was interchangeable, but was both heavy and rugged as replacement was largely for maintenance and ensuring that the feed lips were in good condition. In fact, it was not a true assault rifle, but a 12 round semi automatic rifle with a traditional rifle stock. This practically eliminated the cost issue as stated by natives, and expected ultimately from the humans themselves. The use of a rudimentary gas impingement system also reduced machining cost by a helpful amount due to the lack of an operating rod and return spring usually found in short stroke gas pistons found in the HK-416 or SKS. A disadvantage of course was that the weapon needed to be cleaned on a regular basis to prevent excess fowling. However in the eyes of a people who still use black powder weapons this was rather lax.